1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to thermally management system and more specifically it relates to a combination spray and cold plate thermal management system for effectively thermally managing a heat producing device during startup.
2. Description of the Related Art
Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
Modern electronic devices (e.g. microprocessors, circuit boards and power supplies) and other heat producing devices have significant thermal management requirements. Conventional dry thermal management technology (e.g. forced air convection using fans and heat sinks) simply is not capable of efficiently thermally managing modern electronics.
Single-phase liquid thermal management systems (e.g. liquid cold plates) and two-phase liquid thermal management systems (e.g. spray cooling, pool boiling, flow boiling, jet impingement cooling, falling-film cooling, parallel forced convection, curved channel cooling and capillary pumped loops) have been in use for years for thermally managing various types of heat producing devices. Spray cooling technology is being adopted today as the most efficient option for thermally managing electronic systems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,804 entitled High Heat Flux Evaporative Spray Cooling to Tilton et al. describes the earlier versions of spray technology as applied to electronics. U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,201 entitled Fluid Control Apparatus and Method for Spray Cooling to Tilton et al. also describes the usage of spray technology to cool a printed circuit board.